We’re finally to the semifinals of both the Champions League and the UEFA Cup. We’ve been making predictions here at WCR since the knockout stages began in both. While results have been mixed, we’ve been getting better as the season has gone along in the Champions League, now that we’ve lost the surprising Fenerbahce and Schalke 04, while we have been getting worse as time goes on in the UEFA Cup, not realizing that Zenit St. Petersburg is as good as it has been playing. With five of the final eight standing currently in the WCR Top 25, and Rangers and Fiorentina having been there before, we should look forward to some great games.
Are we the only ones making predictions? Of course not. Who else is doing it? Well, who isn’t? Our friends at Soccer City FC has done a tremendous job aggregating picks from journalists, bloggers, players and, if there are other types of people, them too. If you’re interested in predictions, please check it out.
Is the prediction season finally coming to an end? Only in the Northern Hemisphere. Down south, the Copa Libertadores group stages will end this week and we’ll take our crack prediction team to work because, well, what else are we going to do when the European club season is over? Concentrate on Euro 2008? Not likely.
Now, on to the predictions . . .
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE PREDICTIONS
(1) Manchester United over (3) Barcelona
Seventy-Eight percent of you have voted for this outcome and I can’t argue with you. Tevez, Ronaldo and Rooney should find the back of the net plenty of times. They are leading the best domestic league in the world and are the only first-place team in the semifinals. Meanwhile, Barcelona has fallen to third place in the Primera Division and have not appeared to have been able to take perhaps the greatest collection of individual players in the world and meld it into a championship team. Aggregate Prediction: Manchester United 4 Barcelona 2.
(2) Chelsea over (4) Liverpool
Too bad the winner doesn’t have to beat Barnsley to advance. Throughout the knockout stages, I have been conducting polls of who you think is going to win. This matchup has resulted in the closest vote yet, with Liverpool garnering 51% of the vote. This also marks the first time that I’m disagreeing with the voting. A minor blip against Wigan Athletic notwithstanding, Chelsea has played like one of the top two teams in the world over the past few months. Coming off a big match against Everton and heading into an even bigger one against Manchester United, Chelsea may be a little distracted in this matchup, but I still have to go with the better team. Liverpool has been hot and cold all year. One thing they have demonstrated over the past few years, however, is that they really know how to play these two-leg matchups. Now that they have closed in on closing up the fourth spot in the Premiership, they should have a better ability to focus on the Champions League. I wouldn’t be shocked if you were right and I was wrong, but we’ll just have to wait and see. Aggregate Prediction: Chelsea 3 Liverpool 2.
UEFA CUP PREDICTIONS
(14) Bayern Munchen over Zenit St. Petersburg
Fresh off of winning their domestic cup competition, Bayern looks to solidify the position they’ve held all year as UEFA Cup favorites. Let’s face it, on paper at least, this should not be much of a contest. That being said, Bayern has had some problems in the UEFA Cup, with a hiccup against Aberdeen and needing a Luca Toni miracle to defeat Getafe. Also, Zenit St. Petersburg hasn’t been a favorite on paper throughout the tournament, but have proven that the UEFA Cup isn’t played on paper. I’m picking against Zenit again, but they have been proving me wrong for months now, so we’ll see. Aggregate Prediction: Bayern Munchen 5 Zenit St. Petersburg 1.
Fiorentina over Rangers
Of all of the matchups this week (with the exception of Saprissa and Pachuca, but that’s another story), I find this one to be the most unpredictable. Both teams have had periods of brilliance, while both have also appeared ordinary for long periods of time. Which one is hotter right now? I see Fiorentina, who let AC Milan back into the Champions League race and then bounce back to secure their spot recently. Meanwhile, I see Rangers letting Celtic back into the Scottish Premiership race, and that shouldn’t have happened. I think Fiorentina is a little hotter, so I am going with them. Okay, I’m kidding. I’m just going with the rankings. I always go with the rankings. This IS World Club Rankings for (Zenit St.) Pete’s sake. Aggregate Prediction: Fiorentina 2 Rangers 2, Fiorentina on penalty kicks.
Are we the only ones making predictions? Of course not. Who else is doing it? Well, who isn’t? Our friends at Soccer City FC has done a tremendous job aggregating picks from journalists, bloggers, players and, if there are other types of people, them too. If you’re interested in predictions, please check it out.
Is the prediction season finally coming to an end? Only in the Northern Hemisphere. Down south, the Copa Libertadores group stages will end this week and we’ll take our crack prediction team to work because, well, what else are we going to do when the European club season is over? Concentrate on Euro 2008? Not likely.
Now, on to the predictions . . .
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE PREDICTIONS
(1) Manchester United over (3) Barcelona
Seventy-Eight percent of you have voted for this outcome and I can’t argue with you. Tevez, Ronaldo and Rooney should find the back of the net plenty of times. They are leading the best domestic league in the world and are the only first-place team in the semifinals. Meanwhile, Barcelona has fallen to third place in the Primera Division and have not appeared to have been able to take perhaps the greatest collection of individual players in the world and meld it into a championship team. Aggregate Prediction: Manchester United 4 Barcelona 2.
(2) Chelsea over (4) Liverpool
Too bad the winner doesn’t have to beat Barnsley to advance. Throughout the knockout stages, I have been conducting polls of who you think is going to win. This matchup has resulted in the closest vote yet, with Liverpool garnering 51% of the vote. This also marks the first time that I’m disagreeing with the voting. A minor blip against Wigan Athletic notwithstanding, Chelsea has played like one of the top two teams in the world over the past few months. Coming off a big match against Everton and heading into an even bigger one against Manchester United, Chelsea may be a little distracted in this matchup, but I still have to go with the better team. Liverpool has been hot and cold all year. One thing they have demonstrated over the past few years, however, is that they really know how to play these two-leg matchups. Now that they have closed in on closing up the fourth spot in the Premiership, they should have a better ability to focus on the Champions League. I wouldn’t be shocked if you were right and I was wrong, but we’ll just have to wait and see. Aggregate Prediction: Chelsea 3 Liverpool 2.
UEFA CUP PREDICTIONS
(14) Bayern Munchen over Zenit St. Petersburg
Fresh off of winning their domestic cup competition, Bayern looks to solidify the position they’ve held all year as UEFA Cup favorites. Let’s face it, on paper at least, this should not be much of a contest. That being said, Bayern has had some problems in the UEFA Cup, with a hiccup against Aberdeen and needing a Luca Toni miracle to defeat Getafe. Also, Zenit St. Petersburg hasn’t been a favorite on paper throughout the tournament, but have proven that the UEFA Cup isn’t played on paper. I’m picking against Zenit again, but they have been proving me wrong for months now, so we’ll see. Aggregate Prediction: Bayern Munchen 5 Zenit St. Petersburg 1.
Fiorentina over Rangers
Of all of the matchups this week (with the exception of Saprissa and Pachuca, but that’s another story), I find this one to be the most unpredictable. Both teams have had periods of brilliance, while both have also appeared ordinary for long periods of time. Which one is hotter right now? I see Fiorentina, who let AC Milan back into the Champions League race and then bounce back to secure their spot recently. Meanwhile, I see Rangers letting Celtic back into the Scottish Premiership race, and that shouldn’t have happened. I think Fiorentina is a little hotter, so I am going with them. Okay, I’m kidding. I’m just going with the rankings. I always go with the rankings. This IS World Club Rankings for (Zenit St.) Pete’s sake. Aggregate Prediction: Fiorentina 2 Rangers 2, Fiorentina on penalty kicks.
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